Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton

Our second episode on the life of Anthony Burns begins with his detention in Boston, which outraged Massachusetts abolitionists. Even after Burns was returned to Virginia to be enslaved once again, his supporters in Boston continued to work for his freedom. Research: Buehrens, Jo ... Show More

The story of Anthony Burns is one that resonates in our current times. Part one covers his early enslaved life, his escape from enslavement, and his arrest under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Research: Buehrens, John A. “Spiritual friendship and social justice.” UU World. Fall ... Show More

This 2019 episode takes a closer look the famous diary of Samuel Pepys, and also at who Pepys was beyond his famous chronicle of life in 17th-century London.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

María Elena Moyano Delgado (1958-1992) was an afro-Peruvian activist and organizer whose focus on community-based solutions revolutionized self-governance in a deeply stratified Peru. Her commitment to social justice in the face of a discriminatory government and threats to her l ... Show More

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes, all with an Argentine theme. We find out more about the 1985 ‘trial of the juntas’ when the country’s former military leaders stood accused of torturing and murdering thousands of their own people. And we h ... Show More

We sometimes ignore parts of our past that we are ashamed of, but if we are being honest with ourselves and with history, we have to face and acknowledge these things. In this episode, Diego and Julian look to their childhoods in Nashville, and Diego tells the story of Catarina d ... Show More

Nina Mae McKinney (1912-1967) was a Black American actress who performed in Hollywood and internationally in the 1930s. She was dubbed “The Black Garbo” and was the first African-American performer to receive a five-year contract with MGM. Yet because of racism and miscegenation ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Marguerite, Queen of Navarre (1492 – 1549), author of the Heptaméron, a major literary landmark in the French Renaissance. Published after her death, The Heptaméron features 72 short stories, many of which explore relations between the sexes. Howev ... Show More

Maria Callas (1923-1977) was an iconic opera singer known for her “diva” antics. A soprano, she sang in opera houses around the world, until her sudden decline and premature death at the age of 53. For Further Reading: The biggest myth about Maria Callas? She was no tragic icon M ... Show More

This week, Jordan talks to the novelist Sigrid Nunez about her youthful preoccupation with mimicking the prose of Virginia Woolf, the step-by-step intuitive way she writes prose now, and the best way to make overnight oats.Sigrid Nunez has published nine novels, including A Feath ... Show More

Irene Fernandez (1946-2014) was a Malaysian human rights activist. She co-founded Tenaganita, a non-governmental organization that promotes the rights of migrant workers. When she raised the alarm about migrant workers’ welfare in government detentions, she became the subject of ... Show More

Paula Gunn Allen (1939-2008) was an American poet, literary critic, activist, professor, and novelist. With works that often explored Indigeneity and feminism, she helped establish a Native American literary presence in the United States. For Further Reading: Paula Gunn Allen Cha ... Show More

Voices of the Race: Black Newspapers in Latin America, 1870-1960 (Cambridge University Press, 2022) offers English translations of more than one hundred articles published in Black newspapers in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, and Uruguay from 1870 to 1960. Those publications were as im ... Show More